Walking to Happiness Appeal give2give is an award winning registered charity whose aim is to improve the lives of local people across Bromley and the community they live in.
This year we are helping to raise funds for a nine year girl called Libby Lee who has cerebral palsy. We are aiming to raise £55,000 by July 10 to enable Libby to have two life changing operations in which will enable her to walk unassisted. This is Libby’s dream. As Libby says in her own words “If I can’t walk, I’ll miss out on all the fun bits”. Libby has been assessed and accepted for the operations which have a 100% success rate.
Libby is from Keston, Kent and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was 11 months old which was both devastating and shocking news. Her outlook for the future was going to be a battle, if she was lucky she would be able to walk with assistance or at very best with a style of her own.
Libby has received Conductive Education (Hungarian “Peto” Therapy) since the age of three and this has helped immensely; she has gone from crawling to sitting independently, walking with a frame and also sticks. We were told that if Libby did not walk by herself by the age of five, her chances of ever doing so were very slim. The older she gets the harder she has to work, physio and stretching every day help Libby to maintain what she has achieved and potentially avoid a lifetime in a wheelchair. We have tried to give Libby the best opportunities and have always encouraged activities which will help her physically so she rides horses, ski’s and swims. However, Libby has always been a happy and very determined little girl, who thinks she can do anything, if we let her, she would play football and enter Britain’s Got Talent as a dancer!
Libby’s hard work and determination have led to her exceeding Doctor’s expectations. She took her first independent steps on , achieving 6 steps one day to 30 by the end of the week and 5 weeks later 205! Although this is a massive achievement, we still have a very long way to go, Libby cannot stand and balance by herself or walk without someone by her side to catch her when she loses her balance. As Libby grows or gets tired (one step for Libby requires the same effort as 3 steps of an average child) it becomes very difficult to maintain and requires huge input and determination and whilst we know Libby will carry on her positive attitude, we have an opportunity to help her.
Libby has been accepted to have an operation in , called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, which will release the stiffness in her legs and give her permanent flat feet. This will help her sit, make transitions between postures, and her standing and walking will improve. The operation has a 100% success rate and Doctors expect Libby will be able to walk without any assistive device in the home and in other protective environments; outdoors she will be able to walk with 1 or 2 sticks.
We need your help to raise £55,000 (New Target*) so that we can take Libby to America for one month in July 2010 to enable her to have the operation.
* It has also been recommended that Libby has her Ham strings & Heel Cords released whilst we are in America, this has increased our target by £10,000, full details are on our website:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=402564110647-
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